Letters to the editor: Crescent Road

Respect Linxweiler's wishes

I moved to Westport at 6 weeks old. I've lived in Westport for 19 years, and I've been to 33 Memorial Day parades in Westport. I consider myself a Westporter to the bone.

I am a fortunate product of the excellent schools and opportunities Westport offered me as a child. My wife and I recently had the good fortune of returning to Westport as home owners and business owners in July 2009. We're happily living near our family of more than 50 Westport residents, a real dream come true for us.

Unfortunately, on Jan. 5, at a community meeting, we found out about a plan by the Homes with Hope to build several new supportive housing buildings at 655 Post Road, the Linxweiler House. Supportive housing is made available to people at significantly reduced price for those who are well below the state median income.

Homes with Hope indicated that supportive housing residents on the Linxweiler Homestead will likely include people with mental disorders and may be drug addicts. Homes with Hope has limited oversight into resident's daily living situation and has no articulated plan for on-site support staff beyond weekly visitations. This is a situation the Crescent Road community is struggling to understand and accept as a positive step for our community's future.

Homes with Hope currently requires two pieces of legislation to move forward with its plan. It requires a 75-year lease on the Linxweiler property at $1 per year, and it requires a zoning change to create the type of environment they need to begin their project (supportive housing property zoning). It is important to point out that this is not the first attempt by Homes with Hope to move forward with this supportive housing at the Linxweiler Homestead. On at least two previous occasions, Homes with Hope has attempted, and failed to push to the Linxweiler extended property lease project forward.

My family lives at 57 Crescent Road, down the street from the Linxweiler House. My wife and I chose to live in this location because it gave us a strong community feeling, while still being close to the conveniences of the Post Road. Looking at the Crescent Road community from the Post Road, you may believe it to be a very commercial area. According to Homes with Hope, additional buildings and traffic are of no consequence. However, once you walk 50 yards down Crescent Road, with the Linxweilier Homstead to your left, the entire landscape changes. You come to see many houses, small and large, with families, yards, wildlife, and residents with a strong attachment to community well-being and the preservation of the way of life residents have come to expect, and deserve to enjoy from their homes.

The Linxweiler House is a historic building, and one of very few areas on Westport's Post Road that is not overbuilt with commercial buildings, parking lots, and other commerce. The Linxweiler House is a 1.3 acre lot with a single home and plenty of green space. It is home to many animals, plants, and trees untouched for many years. The Linxweiler House was willed to Westport with the intent that the property would be used for green space, and a benefit to the Crescent Road community. As a historic building, sitting on a relatively large lot, it does credit to Westport as a preserved total property. Westport has had the opportunity to sell the property for commercial use, but kudos to the town for the decision to keep the property in native form, an extreme rarity on the Post Road.

While I applaud the Homes with Hope and their motives, especially with other housing projects they have completed in Westport, their proposed solution for the Linxweiler Homestead does not comport with the wishes of the neighboring residential community. Homes with Hope intends to take a property that fits in with the current Crescent Road and historic community, and add between three to seven additional buildings, up to 5,000 square feet each. It should be known that the largest house on Crescent road is approximately 4,400 square feet, and most other houses are much smaller, making the proposed structures potentially obtuse to the surroundings. The Homes with Hope represents that 5,000-square-foot structures on the Linxweiler property are consistent with the look and feel of the Post Road, however their plan is especially inappropriate if the Linxweiler Homestead is looked on as a part of the Crescent Road Community. With her gift to the town, Ms. Linxweiler clearly felt that her property was part of both the Post Road and Crescent Road communities. In 1981 P&Z confirmed this perspective when they issued their acceptance report.

Ms. Linxweilier's will states, "I give all my real property situated in the Town of Westport, County of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, bounded by the Boston Post Road and Crescent Road, to the Town of Westport in memory of the Linxweiler family. The Town of Westport has been good to my family and to me. I feel that there should be some green areas preserved along the Post Road rather than only commercial buildings. Without placing restrictions or a trust on this gift, it is my hope and desire that the property be used for a park or recreational area." The intent of this gift is clear. In 1981, when Westport accepted the gift, the Westport government agreed the intent of the gift was to use the property for public use and enjoyment. A 1981 report issued by the Westport Recreation Commission confirmed the intent of the gift by suggesting the creation of a park and facilities for affordable housing for Westport employees.

Granting Homes with Hope their request of a 75-year lease is excessive. The economics of Homes with Hope's project are precarious at best. By their admission, the Linxweiler Homestead is a prime site for building supportive housing because of the opportunity for a 75-year, $1-per-year lease from the town. Without free property, Homes with Hope could not afford to purchase and maintain a new property in Westport with vastly reduced occupant rental rates. As we all know, today's economic environment is as volatile as can be recalled in recent history, with a still unclear future. Charitable and government giving, Homes with Hope's primary source of project funds, is even harder to obtain consistently when donors are unsure of their own economic future. How can Westport, in light of local and global economics, be certain Homes with Hope can sustain this project for the next 75 years? Should we be granting Homes with Hope a lease that won't come up for renewal until our unborn children have children?

If we look at the character and nature of Westport 75 years ago, nearly every Post Road property has changed owner, business model, and building form factor. The idea of building supportive housing rental units that will be occupied by similarly challenged people for the next 75 years is just unrealistic. Homes with Hope cannot guarantee that the character of future residents of the proposed structures will not change over time. There is no way to ensure that the residents will never be criminals, drug abusers or even sex offenders.

Homes with Hope has shown designs of potential buildings on the property. They claim that the people living there will be upstanding citizens who will never bother anyone, they claim that the buildings will be expertly constructed with beautiful landscaping, trash disposal, and parking facilities. With a 75-year lease, how can we be sure they can do it? My family just bought a house in Westport, we know what it costs to maintain a property correctly, how can Westport be sure that Homes with Hope will continue to receive the funds to make sure this project is kept up as promised? If Homes with Hope can't fund the project adequately, Westport may inherit a 75 year problem. Westport will be responsible for the maintenance of the property, and the well being of any potential residents that may be displaced. Does this "insurance policy" represent Westport adhering to their fiduciary responsibilities to all Westport residents?

At Stapes High School I learned some very simple lessons. As Westport residents, we are honor bound to respect the sanctity of Ms. Linnxweiler's final wishes. While Homes with Hope argues that that letter of the law allows them to violate Ms. Linxweiler's clear intent, why are we, as Wesporters, people who respect history and value integrity, accepting this argument? This is not an issue of whether the Homes with Hope can move forward with this project, but it is an issue of whether Homes with Hope should be allowed to move forward with this project. Clearly, Westporters, who have rejected similar proposals twice in the past, do not believe this is a project worthy of further consideration.

Westport should think carefully of how it will proceed with the Homes with Hope lease proposal. If the Lease is granted, the action sends a clear message to residents. If you want to give you land to the town, you have no control or input on how it will be used in the future. As a Westport home owner and business owner, I am here to make a legacy for myself and my family. I had planned on making Westport an integral part of that legacy; living out my years, running a responsible business, and giving back to Westport.

I urge all Westporters to come the P&Z meeting on February 25th to make your voice heard. Tell P&Z that we want a responsible plan for Westport's future growth and prosperity, a plan that respects the wishes of those generous enough to make Westport a part of their own family's history.

Jeffrey Staw

Westport

Whatever will be

will be, or will it?

The residents of Crescent Road and surrounding areas in Westport feel for those less fortunate. We believe in helping those who can't help themselves. But, we also feel the need to be a voice for those who no longer have one. And that's why we are speaking up on behalf of Joanna Linxweiler, who died on Aug. 11, 1981. In her will she noted, "I give all my real property situated in the town of Westport, county of Fairfield and state of Connecticut, bounded by the Boston Post Road and Crescent Road, to the town of Westport in memory of the Linxweiler family. The town of Westport has been good to my family and to me. I feel that there should be some green areas preserved along the Post Road rather than only commercial buildings. Without placing restrictions or a trust on this gift, it is my hope and desire that the property be used for a park or recreational area."

Homes with Hope and town of Westport wish to silence her last will and testament. Maybe they just choose to ignore the writing on the will. We seek to give it a voice.

The Homes with Hope is an organization that provides affordable housing to the homeless for a variety of reasons including mental illness and substance abuse. They wish to use this 1.3-acre site at 655 Post Road to build three to five, up to 5,000-square-foot facilities, which will contain at least 12 apartments plus a parking lot of at least 12 spaces to house formerly homeless, mentally disabled individuals and families. While the supposed current plans are to match the "colonial" look and size of the newer homes on the block, the residents of Crescent Road and surrounding neighborhoods believe filling the less-than-1.5-acre property with any kind of construction of this magnitude goes against the grain of the community -- it's inconsistent with the area's residential character -- and undoubtedly violates the wishes of Ms. Linxweiler and her family as clearly expressed in her will. The Homes with Hope argues there are no "explicit" limitations according to the will and say they can use the property as they wish. We don't ask can we, rather should we?

On Feb. 25, Westport's Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a meeting to decide if this gift of green space offered to the Town of Westport in memory of the Linxweiler family will be used commercially by the Homes with Hope to build their organization's housing complex for an excessive lease term of 75 years at $1 per year.

Some interesting findings:

"¢ In 1981, P&Z documented that accepting Ms. Linxweiler's gift would mean eliminating the potential for a 22,000-square-foot office building.

"¢ P&Z recommended that a portion of the property be utilized as a public park for passive recreation for the Crescent Road neighborhood.

"¢ The Westport Recreation Commission wrote that Ms. Linxweiler's property at 655 Post Road E. is the only remaining green area in its neighborhood and the 1.3 acres which was well maintained would serve ideally as a passive park.

"¢ Both P&Z as well as Westport Recreation Commission recommended the existing housing be used to provide affordable housing to young town employees like policemen and firemen who are often on-call or needed in emergencies. The current home on the property is being used as Homes with Hope housing.

In December of 1985 and March of 1997, the Homes with Hope applied to subdivide the 1.31 acres. P&Z turned it down because:

1. The intent of Ms. Linxweiler's will was to preserve her homestead for public use/enjoyment.

2. If the lot is sold, it will become commercial use against the spirit of the will.

3. If the property is sold for commercial use against the spirit of the will, the town may lose future donations.

4. The 75-year lease is excessive.

5. Other locations should have been considered for the Homes with Hope Housing proposal.

6. The proposed lease and plan is not in conformance with the wishes of Joanna Linxweiler who wanted the property to be kept as a green area on the Post Road.

7. The town should not transfer long-term responsibility for this town-owned property to another entity, in this case Homes with Hope.

8. The federal government should not be dictating planning for the Town.

9. There is a need to consider the impact on the residential neighborhood and the concerns of the neighbors.

Amy Staw

Westport